Recap: Bruins 5, Islanders 1
Feb 26, 2025Isaiah George recorded his third goal in the AHL on Wednesday, but the Bridgeport Islanders (12-34-3-3), American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Islanders, dropped a 5-1 final to the Providence Bruins (30-17-4-1) at Total Mortgage Arena.
Patrick Brown potted two power-play goals to earn first star honors. Vinni Lettieri and Tyler Pitlick both registered one goal and one assist. Georgii Merkulov and Ian Mitchell added two helpers, while Michael DiPietro (20-7-4) made 30 saves for his league-leading 20th win.
For the Islanders, George has registered a point in back-to-back games and has eight points (3g, 5a) in 13 AHL contests. He’s notched five points (2g, 3a) since returning from the New York Islanders.
After a scoreless first period, the Bruins exploded for four goals in a 7:51 span to take a commanding lead in the second. It started at the 3:24 mark after Wyatt Newpower was sent to the box for boarding. Lettieri received a pass in the left circle and fed it to Brown stationed on the right side of the crease. Brown nudged the puck into the back of the net for his first of two power-play goals.
Just 2:12 later, Marc McLaughlin swiped the puck away from Sam Bolduc and dumped it off to Lettieri, who looked off a pass back to McLaughlin, and instead roofed a backhand shot over Henrik Tikkanen’s (4-14-2) shoulder to make it 2-0.
Pitlick exited the box after serving a goaltender interference penalty and found John Farinacci in the Islanders’ zone, where he blasted home a one-timer from the left circle at the 9:04 mark.
Matt Maggio was accessed a hooking penalty nearly two minutes later to put the Bruins on their second man advantage. They capitalized 12 seconds later when Brown sniped his second power-play goal of the period from the right circle at 11:15.
Bridgeport got one back at the 15:52 mark courtesy of George. William Dufour settled the puck off the right boards and tried to find Cole Bardreau with a backhand feed. The pass went high and past Bardreau but found the rookie defenseman, who launched a shot from the left faceoff dot past DiPietro to make it 4-1.
Pitlick recorded his 16th goal of the season and second point of the night (one goal, one assist) to cap the 5-1 final at 9:17 of the third.
The Islanders’ power play went 0-for-5, while the penalty kill went 0-for-2. It was Bridgeport’s third straight setback (0-2-1).
Next Time Out: The Islanders open a three-game road trip on Friday with a 7:05 p.m. puck drop against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at PPL Center. The game can be heard for free via the Bridgeport Islanders Radio Network or seen live on AHLTV on FloHockey, beginning with the Connecticut Lottery Pregame Countdown at 6:45 p.m.